A variety of temporary structures have been utilized for years in an attempt to prevent debris and material from entering waterways and/or damaging adjacent marine structures during the demolition of maritime vessels. Exemplary temporary structures that have been utilized in the past include nets, cloth, wooden structures, and metal shields, which have all been variously employed on a case-by-case basis to prevent debris and materials from falling into adjacent water.
However, these structures are generally single use, “stick built” (e.g., they are a one time construction built to fit a specific structure that is being protected), difficult to erect and disassemble, utilize materials that cannot be safely reutilized once installed, and require an extensive amount of manpower and unrecoverable capital investment to create.
Despite the above-identified issues, there has been a lack of advancement in this field. This may be at least partially attributed to the wide variety of marine structures that are contemplated for protection. For example, buildings, bridges, ships, piers, wharfs, and quays, are all marine structures that are contemplated for protection, but each requires a different type of structural protection in order to provide acceptable results. While there are thousands of these marine structures in the world, there is little to no specialization in companies dedicated to the specific application of demolishing maritime vessels and a corresponding lack of effort to standardize protection structures to be used during the demolition of the maritime vessels, which amounts to a small but vital component of that work.
Due to the lack of uniformity between structures and a broad approach to completing a demolition project, with or without sensitivity to the underlying regulatory requirements, the known systems do not offer the flexibility and protection that is desired and/or required by both regulations and prudence on the part of the operator.
What is needed in the art is a debris collection apparatus for maritime vessels for securing and containing debris and falling material during demolition and other activities and that includes continuously stable support mechanisms, is movable and adjustable to protect different structures, can be quickly and easily erected and dismantled, and can be reused on the same vessel or other vessels. These and other needs are addressed by the adjustable debris collection apparatus of the present disclosure.